How to get into U of Chicago

Parents Forum
1

<p>So My son is a sophomore attending a good highschool. He has above 4.0, only one year accelerated in math, and is taking just 2 AP classes this year. He really wants t go to U of Chicago/U Penn and major in economics. Any suggestions on what he should be doing the next 2 years? He's looking into taking AP Physics and AP Chem next year or not doubling science and taking Chinese at ISU.
Next Year's tentative schedule:
AP Language and Comp
AP Stat
Trig/Pre calc
AP European History
AP Physics
Spanish 3
and either Chinese, AP Chemistry, or something ( any suggestions)</p>

<p>any suggestions as what he should be taking and what extracurriculars/leadership opportunities he should be partaking in.
Thanks</p>

2

<p>His list of courses looks fine. Having a nice internship or science research also looks terrific. UChicago cares a lot about their essay: a clever essay makes a huge difference. Also, be sure to visit. It’s a beautiful campus. And, like all top college, it also helps to have all other components working: scores, ECs, leadership, awards.</p>

3

<p>Chicago likes intellectually quirky kids (or used to, I can’t tell anymore). Instead of trying to have him fit into some mold, encourage him to bloom in whatever way he most wants to.</p>

<p>Also, with so many applying there these days, I’m sure they will be interested in some demonstration of real interest in attending as opposed to ‘lets add it to your list and see what happens.’</p>

4

<p>My son got into U of Chicago last year. He took what was a fairly rigorous (but not onerous) schedule for his school emphasizing courses he was interested in. So he took AP World as a sophomore, APUSH as a junior and AP Euro as a senior. He was less interested in the sciences, but had AP Bio as a junior and AP Physics C as a senior. He also took AP Calc BC as a senior. He had 4 years of Latin, never got a grade above a B in it. He didn’t take any AP English and opted to take an elective instead of honors as a senior.</p>

<p>He had no research experience, but he did some things on his own which made him look a little different. He had a small business making and selling origami earrings and he did some work with our neighborhood association archives that showed his understanding of history. He wrote a rather funny essay about Why Chicago and his answer to Chicago’s famous uncommon questions was weird, but funny. </p>

<p>My advice is that the exact mix of courses doesn’t matter. What matters most is doing what you are good at and making a case for yourself. My son had neither perfect grades (lots of Bs!) or perfects scores (math and writing under 700!). Great essays can make a real difference at Chicago.</p>

5

<p>The Chicago essays are very important. Currentlly, applicants are asked to submit the Common App essay, a why Chicago essay, an optional favorite things essay, and likely most importantly the famous UChicago uncommon essay. Here are links to this and past years’ essays:
<a href=“https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/apply/essays/[/url]”>https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/apply/essays/&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/apply/essays/past.shtml[/url]”>https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/apply/essays/past.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Besides the obvious academics and test scores, showing that one is a student the Chicago profs would like to have in their courses is perhaps the most important thing an applicant can do. Get to know the University and its somewhat unique culture, and show one belongs.</p>

<p>Here are a couple of links to kick-off that effort:
<a href=“http://president.uchicago.edu/speeches/inaugural_convocation.shtml[/url]”>http://president.uchicago.edu/speeches/inaugural_convocation.shtml&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://iotu.uchicago.edu/levine.html[/url]”>http://iotu.uchicago.edu/levine.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“University of Chicago News”>University of Chicago News;